"You have a job interview, where?!" A woman with long brown hair and brown doe eyes said to a dark haired young man about the same age.
"Julian" the man said before shrugging his shoulders, he didn't really care on *where* he had a job interview just that he *had* one. He hadn't known how hard it would be to get interviews for his chosen field of work, translation; as in translating from one language to another, when he had taken up the major in college.
"JULIAN!" the woman squealed before she began to talk a mile a minute.
"How did you manage it? Do you know that like a million other people probably want that job? Oh. My. God!" The man could only stare at the woman and hope that she wouldn't notice if he tried to slip out of having lunch with her now. At the time he had been excited about the prospect of a better job, it wasn't like his job at the hospital was taking him anywhere. He had thought that it would be a challenge working at the hospital, translating for the doctors to the patients and vice versa but he had been dead wrong. Most of the time he was pushed over to the financial assistance area, and wasn't that a joke because there was no assistance to be had most of the time; and he also had to fight with his co-workers due to the patient feeling that their bill was incorrect or that they weren't going to pay at all for some reason or another. He absolutely hated his job, it paid the bills sure but that was about it. He had never really been a people person, preferring instead paper and ink but he had to find something to pay for the apartment that he lived in and the student loans that he had at graduating from college.
"Oh. My. God!" The woman squealed again before rambling on again about how this was such a great opportunity for him and that he had best not screw it up, since she was looking for any sort of hand-offs the company was willing to give to him from their closet. He wasn't really sure on what she meant by that, but he nodded his head and smiled, just as his mother taught him to do when dealing with particularly difficult people.
"Clark just don't screw this up" the woman said before she started to ramble on about her latest woe, which seemed to be that the current designer she worked for, the fifth one in a string of jobs she had, was making her work entirely way to hard. As if she was some sort of personal assistant, she didn't *do* getting coffee or dry cleaning. That just wasn't what she was there for; she was there to show them that she was just as good if not better in some cases then the current hot designers of the industry. Clark only nodded his head not agreeing or disagreeing with what the woman was saying, he had learned the hard way that doing so usually ended him in the dog house with the rest of the small group of their friends.
"Well I better get back" Clark said checking his watch and seeing that if he didn't leave now that he would be late clocking back into work. He hadn't wanted to have lunch with the woman but it seemed that he could never say no to her, even now after they had grown up and moved away from Smallville.
"Okay" the woman said clearly distracted by her cell phone ringing and not at the fact that he was leaving.
"Yeah, whatever" he said before making his way back to the large hospital that hung in the background of the small sandwich shop that he had stopped to get a bite to eat at with the woman that was now on her phone looking most unhappy about something.
"Kent!" Met his ears as he made his way to his cube after clocking back in from lunch, something he so didn't want to do.
"Dani" the man said in greeting, the woman could be a real bitch when she didn't get her way. He was still amazed that she worked at the hospital with as much fuss as she usually kicked up in their department.
"A doctor needs a translator" she said her nose in the air, as if she was better than he was.
"Sure where?" He asked happy to be not having to sit at his desk and listen to the woman whine about how she just didn't have *time* for the sorts of things that they were making her do.
"8, West" she said before he nodded his head and then made his way back out of the door that hid their department away from most of the hospital.
"8, West" he said to himself as he made his way over to the huge bank of elevators on the west side of the hospital. Once he arrived he asked one of the workers on the floor, a decidedly unpleasant experience, where the doctor that had been requesting a translator was.
"Over there" the African American woman with glasses and blue streaks running through her hair said, while pointing to a doctor and a group of people around her. He said a quick thanks, got a roll of the eyes from the worker and then made his way over to where the doctor was standing looking a bit lost.
"Resident then" he said to himself before making it the rest of the way to where the doctor stood.
"You requested a translator" he said looking at the doctor and noticing that she was quite pleasant on the eyes, but definitely didn't look to have any control over the situation at hand.
"Yes" she said with a relieved sigh before her eyes widened at the figure that had spoken.
"Clark" he said sticking out his hand before he looked to the group surrounding the doctor, wondering what he was in for this time.
"I hope you speak Italian" she said before her eyes widened even more when Clark nodded his head. He was quite proud of the fact that he was fluent in five languages and was working hard on learning even more.
"Ciao, mi chiamo Clark e tradurrò per lei oggi." Clark said before looking to the doctor to explain what was going on with the family that was surrounding her.
"Uh" she said at a loss, when Clark had spoken all thought had left her brain. A hottie such as him speaking the language of romance had made her get all gooey, making her forget the reason on why she needed Clark in the first place.
"Ciao, mi chiamo Irina e questo è la mia famiglia. Siamo venuti vedere che nostro Nonno ma questo dottore dice che deve parlare a noi del suo. ...condition?" A woman that had a couple patches of graying hair said to Clark looking at him hoping that he would be able to shed some light on what was going on. Clark nodded his head and then relayed what Irina, the woman that had spoken, had said to the doctor.
"Correct, it seems that Mr. Giana suffered from a mild heart attack" the doctor told Clark, who then relayed it to the Irina and the group of people that were with her. Once everyone was on the same page, Clark explained to the doctor that the family wanted to visit with Mr. Giana, to which the doctor replied that they could visit but one or two at a time. It was about thirty minutes later that Clark arrived back to his cube only to be stopped by yet another one of his co-workers. It seemed to Clark that none of them actually did any work; they just sort of hung out in the office and sent him off to do their work when they couldn't break themselves away from the drama filled story from another co-worker.
"And then the girl stole the baby stroller and was walking down the street without a care in the world….." Clark heard before the other co-worker that was buddy, buddy with Dani came over to his cube.
"Back?" She asked as if she couldn't see him sitting in his chair checking his e-mails to see if there were any other pressing matters that needed his attention.
"Yeah" Clark responded back, he had learned the hard way that not responding wasn't a good idea, no it was best to smile and nod your head and answer any and all questions that any one asked of you.
"Dani's looking for you" the woman said before strolling off to go and listen to the drama about the stolen baby stroller, that had evolved to the other girl slashing the tires of the one girl's car; and they were girls since Clark knew that their ages ranged from 18 to at the maximum 23 years old. Once the woman had left did Clark lock his computer back up and make his way over to Dani's office, the only office in the whole room that they were located in. Clark knocked on the door before receiving a 'come in' and then opening the door.
"You wanted to see me" Clark said once he had sat in a chair in the office. He so hated coming in here, it always put him on edge, unlike the rest of the office since they seemed to hang out in said office.
"Yes, I got your request for your day off and I was wondering what the reason for the day is" the woman said her eyes hard as she watched Clark, looking for any sort of signs as to why he needed a whole day off in the coming days.
"Personal matter" Clark said, he didn't think he had to answer the question out right but he knew better than to not answer at all.
"Hmmm" Dani said before looking down to the paper and then looking at her computer screen. Clark of course had plenty of paid time off or better known to the hospital as PTO, but she was a bit hesitant for some reason to give Clark this time.
"You can go" Dani said before looking at Clark and trying to gage his reaction to her words, she was a bit on edge with the idea that Clark may be looking for a new job. He was the only one in the department that she could depend on to actually do their jobs all the time. She of course allowed the rest of the office the luxury to sort of not work since Clark was there to pick up the slack but if he was looking elsewhere, she and the department would be in a world of trouble. Clark stood up and then left the office making his way back to his cube to hear that now the baby stroller stealing girl had retaliated from the slashed tires by breaking in the windows of the tire slashing girl's car.
"You have to be kidding me" Clark mumbled, this was why he hated, no he *loathed* his job. He hoped that this job interview went well, that way he could get away from the drama that always seemed to fill the office during work hours. For the rest of the day Clark was sent around the hospital doing translations as needed and then returning back to his cube to then listen to the latest drama from another one of his co-workers.
"Clark" the woman from earlier called out to Clark as he sat at his cube and watched the clock countdown to quitting time.
"Yeah" Clark said looking up into the woman's face and then shuttering, she was a sight to be seen; with her too much makeup and her nicotine stained teeth.
"Dani wants to see you again" she said before strolling off to her cube to check the latest gossip on the internet. Clark made his way back to the office that held Dani yet again and then knocked and receiving the response to 'come in' yet again.
"You wanted to see me" Clark stated again before Dani was handing over the paper she had been working with since Clark had arrived the first time.
"I've approved your PTO request even though it was last minute" Dani said shoving the paper in Clark's hand, they would be in for a hard day tomorrow since it seemed that most people decided that Friday was a good day to go to the hospital only to then be admitted.
"Thanks" Clark said looking at the paper and then looking at Dani and the unhappy look she had on her face.
"We'll be a bit tight tomorrow but we will manage" she said as if they there wasn't seven other people in the office that could translate.
"Sorry about that" Clark said before taking the paper and backing out of the room slowly, he was certainly *not* going to cancel his job interview over being here at the office with a complete group of drama queens.
"Just make sure to get me a copy of that" she said before shooing Clark out of the office. Clark did as he was told and made copies of the signed request and placed a copy in Dani's box along with the Administrative Assistance box as well. Clark could never be too sure on whether or even if Dani would notify the admin of the PTO. Once he was done he checked the time and saw that it was time for him to leave, so with that thought in mind he shut down his computer, turned off his desk light and made his way to the time clock to clock out. Once he was done with that he walked to his car in the parking garage behind the building that the office was in and then made his way home once in the car. Clark dragged himself into his apartment and saw that he had a big two messages on his phone, pressing play on the phone's answering machine he listened to the two message while sitting on the couch.
"Hey Clark" a bubbly voice said over the line making Clark want to groan. Kara Kent, his cousin was not who he wanted to hear from at the moment; the blonde woman was almost as bad if not worse as Lana Lang and Lois Lane, put together and that was saying something since Lois Lane was known for her ruthlessness when dealing with the social elite of Metropolis. Clark shuddered to think what the woman would have been like if she had gotten into investigative reporting and not the celebrity entertainment gossip biz that she was in now.
"Lana told me about the interview….wow is all I can say. Julian Magazine….. Lois was right pissed when she heard about that, and she said to tell you that she wants a full detail account of your visit to Julian" Kara said before she began to ramble on about something at work before inviting him out for a night on the town after his interview.
"You will of course call when you get finished" Kara said before wishing him luck and then saying goodbye. Clark let out a relieved sigh before he heard the other voice on his voice mail.
"Clark" a husky voice said on the voice mail, this was so not what he wanted to listen to when coming back from a long day at work.
"I'll be back in Metropolis tomorrow, the photo shoot is finally over and I thought that we could do dinner" the male voice said acting as if it was just a casual dinner between friends and not a dinner between lovers.
"Whatever Laurent" Clark said before deleting the message and wondering why he even bothered with continuing the farce of a relationship he was in with Laurent. With an eye roll Clark made his way into the kitchen to see what there was to eat in the apartment, in the refrigerator it seemed that there was nothing viable for him to eat; so with a sigh Clark pulled out his handy dandy order menu box and looked to see if he could find something that he was in the mood for. It seemed that pizza called to him, so he ordered a large pizza with double cheese and pepperoni, before also ordering a 2-liter of soda to accompany it. He would have just gotten both the pizza and the soda on his own but he needed to pick out what he was going to wear to his job interview and he had a feeling it was going to be much harder than picking out clothes to go to work would be.
"White or blue" Clark said to himself standing in front of the small closet that was in his bedroom, the closet was tiny but since Clark didn't have a ton of clothing it didn't really matter much. It was as Clark pulled out both the white shirt and blue shirt in question that his food arrived.
"Fifteen, thirty-six" the pizza man said holding onto the pizza box with the 2-liter of soda at his feet. Clark dashed to the small table near the entrance and grabbed a twenty from his wallet before handing it over to the driver and receiving change back. Clark took the two items and then pressed a few bucks into the drivers hand before closing the door. Clark quickly set to work eating dinner, and once finished he placed the rest of the pizza into the refrigerator along with the soda. Clark had just been heading back to his bedroom and tiny closet when the phone rang.
"Hello" Clark said wondering who was calling.
"Clark, so glad I caught you" a male voice said, the same male voice that had been on the voice mail.
"Laurent" Clark said before listening to the background noise of where Laurent was. Clark could tell that where ever he was, he was having a good time for there was music blaring and Clark could hear people shouting Laurent's name; as if trying to get his attention.
"So did you get my message?" Laurent asked, he knew that Clark sometimes tended to avoid checking his messages on his voice mail so he usually had to prompt him to make sure that Clark did in fact check his voice mail.
"Yeah" Clark said before he heard some more shouting.
"Where are you? Why's it so loud?" Clark questioned, he was having a hard time understanding Laurent over the loud music and people on the other end of the phone.
"The after party for the Prada fashion show" Laurent said with Clark barely understanding what he was saying.
"Oh" Clark said totally at a loss as to how to even continue to carry a conversation with Laurent, since it seemed that he was unwilling to move to a quieter location to speak with him.
"Hang on" Laurent said before Clark heard a rustle and then the volume of the background noise lessened by at least half if not more.
"Sorry about that" Laurent said before he quickly explained that he was currently at the Prada after party, when he thought he would give Clark a buzz and see if he would be agreeable to having dinner when he returned.
"So dinner"
"Yeah" Clark said a bit uncertain on why Laurent was pushing this so much.
"We need to talk" Laurent said by way of explanation, it was then that Clark's mind figured out that Laurent wanted to break things off with him and that he wanted to do so in person.
"Sure, why not" Clark said already trying hard to fight the pain that he could feel in his chest over the thought of Laurent breaking things off with him. He had been with Laurent for almost two years now, but it seemed that now that Laurent's face had been found that he wanted bigger and better things and he wanted them without Clark, the dorky translator boyfriend.
"Well the plane should land at about 3:30, so why don't we have dinner at 6 and we can talk" Laurent suggested before Clark agreed knowing that it was the only thing he could do.
"Bye" Laurent said before Clark heard the volume in the background noise increase before Laurent hung up. Clark held the phone for a beat or two before hanging it up and then taking in his small but clean apartment and noticing little things around the place that were Laurent's. There was no need for him to even keep them here if Laurent planned to break things off, and he was certain that was what Laurent was going to do.
"Better pack it up" Clark said forgetting for the moment the job interview he had tomorrow with Julian and the promise of better things. Clark was able to pack up all of Laurent's trinkets into one lone cardboard box before setting it by the door. Once Laurent broke things off he would be able to hand over the box without Laurent having to come into the apartment, which Clark thought was a good idea. He didn't want any sort goodbye fuck that was for sure. He may be desperate and lonely but he wasn't that desperate or lonely.
"Crap" Clark said once he had taken a seat on the loveseat that was in the living room, he had forgotten in all his packing up of Laurent's things about the interview and the fact that he had nothing picked out for said interview.
"White or blue" Clark said once he made his way back to his bedroom and closet.
"White" Clark he pulling out the white shirt and deciding that it didn't look that bad, it had some wrinkles but they were nothing that wouldn't fall out over night or at least he hoped so. He thought about calling with Lana, Kara or truly in a pinch Lois but stopped since he knew that they would probably deem, although they already did deem, his clothing not worthy of the interview and would send him on a shopping trip with money he didn't have.
"Tie or no tie" Clark questioned before pulling out the five ties that he owned and figuring that no tie would look better since the selection he had to chose from was slim to none of the current fashions.
"Pants" Clark said looking over the jeans, khakis and two pairs of dress slacks that he had in his tiny closet. He had his choice of either gray or black slacks. Clark was leaning towards the black but he remembered the last time he wore then and he had known that they were dirty, well at least a pair of pants that probably shouldn't be worn to a job interview, he did after all have some sense.
"It's going to have to do" Clark said with a sigh and then placing the whole outfit on the doorway to the bathroom so that he wouldn't have to worry about where it was in the morning. For the rest of the night Clark watched TV and looked over the job description of the job he was interviewing for on the internet, before turning in to bed and hoping that this would be his big break to get away from the hospital.
